Robbery at Holliday Creek (13)

What’s hassen pfeffer?

The mayor and sheriff had just tied up their horses in front of the general store when Leitha burst out the door and flew into her father’s arms. Big smiles and laughter like music. Ted nervously gathered his shirt at each hip and tucked the excess material neatly under his belt. 

     Leitha shined on him. “Good morning sheriff, I see congratulations are in order.”  

     Samuelson turned loose of his daughter. “You two talk. I have a store to run.”  And he left them on the boardwalk.

     “Good morning, Miss Leitha. How was your visit to St. Louis?”

     “Oh, not just a visit, sheriff; I shall be moving to St. Louis as soon as arrangements can be made with my aunt.”  

    That caught Ted off guard and he blurted. “Why would you want to do a thing like that when taming the west is so exciting and … and filled with opportunity?”

    Her broad smile shrank to the size of a button hole. “My dear, sheriff, it is the difference between saddle-breaking a bronco and training a trotter for the sulky harness. The former is violence leading to crude beginnings. The second is discipline, leading to graceful integration of man, horse, and machine. ”  

     He was in trouble. The black hair, contrasted against the ivory skin, was the perfect frame for flashing dark eyes set over high cheek bones. She was magnificent.

     He managed to say, “A person could get by very nicely in the settled west.”  He heard his step-father’s words.

     “Sheriff Skillman, the machine age in the east promises more than subsistence… Welcome to our town.”  She disappeared into the store.

     Skillman studied the tops of his cowboy boots a moment. That went well. He decided to stop by the hotel restaurant for a bite of lunch.

    Clara Maud watched the pair from the window. She didn’t have to hear the conversation to see things didn’t bode well for the young ones. She had a cup of coffee at his table as he walked in the door. “Ma Blanchard must be losing her touch… sit. Either that, or you heard that the special today is hassen pfeffer.” 

     “What’s hassen pfeffer?”

     “A rabbit dish made German style—like the cook.  Turns out Mrs. Colby found a brace of rabbits on her back porch just before she discovered three, nearly ripened, corn stalks cut out of her garden, clean as a whistle.”

     “Why would anyone take the whole stalk instead of just pick the ears?”

     “Ever try to carry a dozen ears of corn without a poke?”

     The rabbit stew was certainly something special. Clara Maud hustled around severing the noontime guests, but rushed by to spot him coffee from time to time.  He lingered after the meal hoping she would have time for a little conversation—and she did.

     
       “When did Mrs. Colby first miss her corn?”

     “Well, she found the rabbits this morning, but the corn could have been taken a day or possibly two days ago. She just couldn’t be sure… You know Leitha is back from St. Louis; came in on the morning stage.”  Clara Maud watched for a reaction – a slight smile on her face.

     Ted looked at Clara Maud an extra moment then turned away. The thought crossed his mind: Too bad Clara is twice my age.

     “Yeah, I saw her earlier. Don’t expect her to be around here much longer.  Think I’ll go over and see what Mrs. Colby has to say.”